How did you get to this spot................

[hwillm1977]

I started out on a 10 acre 'farm' that my parents bought the year I was born. We had chickens, pigs, and a commercial greenhouse that we grew hydroponic tomatoes in, for local grocery stores. All heirloom breeds and fantastic flavours. When the interest rates went up in the mid 80's we lost our house to the bank.

Everything we owned fit in our truck, and we moved to an apartment in the city... mom always had a garden, lived frugally, and taught me to sew, knit, garden and how to stretch one penny and make it seem like you had two.

Now I'm working my way up to having a farm, with enough land to be as self sufficient as I possibly can. On the way to that I'm learning as much as I can while in my current home... we have 1 acre in the country and will have chickens, turkeys, and a large garden/greenhouse for veggies.

I guess I really started my current self sufficiency kick by simply wanting to save money, but eat better... with my parents and hubby's support it's become a realistic dream that we are all working toward, to get back to what we had when I was a child.

Mom and dad are retiring, they will move to the land we are purchasing as well (it's 117 acres, there's tons of room). Hubby is just anti-social and likes the idea of living in the middle of nowhere

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i'm pretty sure i got to this spot b/c someone told me i couldnt. i guess i'm stubborn that way - the best way to get me to do something is so say that i cant.
;-)

after i gave up the corporate life and got back here we had the expectation that we'd do some gardening, then that darn Bourbon Red and his farm made me all interested....so we weaseled some hens out of him, then darn it, we got the ducks and geese, then those stupid pigs, and then the goats showed up.. i dunno it kinda took on a life of its own.

and we had a pivotal point tho when we stood in Sams Club one day and looked at what was in our cart and thought about what we could grow ourselves. then we figured out if it we could grow it ourselves, then we could do this life really cheaply....and all y'all know that i wasnt about to go back to the corporate world.

 

[lalaland]

When I was a teenager, my parents purchased some land up in a national forest, and we lived on the land that summer (5 kids, 2 parents, a dog and a tent platform). cleared the land, came back the next summer, built a cabin, worked on the cabin for the next, say decade -
spent as much time over the years as I could up there, tried to figure out how to support myself in a rural area but never could swing it - I did live part time on a farm about 10 years back (split time between the farm and the cities) but when that relation ended, so did my contact with the farm (don't have to tell you I missed the land more than my lover, do I ?)

It has just been the past 4 years that I've been in a rural area and that is with one hell of a commute. Funny, people are always offering to let me stay with them in the city, and I'm always a bit shocked (WHY would I want to do that!). They are being kind, of course, but I delight in being up here - I don't hear neighbors (not their leafblowers, not their parties), I don't smell their laundry smells (I swear, you can smell downy and other stinky laundry products a block away), and I don't see things I don't want to see.

sound like a cranky person, don't I? I'm not, I am so happy up here!

 

[Farmfresh]

i'm pretty sure i got to this spot b/c someone told me i couldnt. i guess i'm stubborn that way - the best way to get me to do something is so say that i cant.
;-)

That pretty much sums it up for me as well!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i'm pretty sure i got to this spot b/c someone told me i couldnt. i guess i'm stubborn that way - the best way to get me to do something is so say that i cant.
;-)

That pretty much sums it up for me as well!

whoot! high fivin' farm girls!!!!

I don't smell their laundry smells (I swear, you can smell downy and other stinky laundry products a block away),

ok so i'm not the only one!!??!? seriously! i thought i was nuts! i'm so relieved.... whew! yes yes its true! you CAN smell stinky laundry stuff a block away!!! i think they whole dryer sheet is a big conspiracy run from a big eastern syndicate..its all rubbish.

 

[pioneergirl]

I think my decision stemmed from many things. When I started my garden and got my layers and meat birds. I don't know exactly what spurred me, it was probably the crappy tasting stuff from the grocery, the prices, etc. But something inside me was screaming "GET BACK TO THE LAND"

After that first year of garden, bread, Fels, and chickens, I was hooked. Then we got this job and all of that 'healthy, good food" went down the tubes. But its allowed me to further my plans for SS. I've hit, and am hitting a few stumbling blocks, but nothing major. I just am soooo tired of high priced junk, cheap goods, and the thought of being helpless should SHTF. There is something inside driving me, although I'm not sure what. Maybe Mother Earth is grabbing hold of anyone who will listen......I'm listening.

 

[gettinaclue]

A big drop in income spurred me on. When hubby got out of the military about 10yrs back (I had already gotten out) we lost quite a bit of income in the transition to the civilian world - especially with the hiring freeze in his field at the time.

We worked like the dickens for a few years - paid off alllll of our debt - bought a house - and now it's our only debt. We did have some investments and money put away - but my son was born very ill a few years ago and even with our good health coverage - they only paid so much - so it all got cashed in, and is gone. We haven't been able to build back up to where we can start squirreling away for more investments.

I don't like it that we are currently living a few pay checks away from being homeless. I don't like it that no matter how much money we make - the prices on everything will go up and eat up any little bit extra we make.

I don't want to be in the position if a natural disaster hits we are not prepared. I'm a "prepper" I guess, but I want to prep it myself so it's better tasting and better for us.

...and I like the idea, want the satisfaction of doing it myself

 

[Beekissed]

i'm pretty sure i got to this spot b/c someone told me i couldnt. i guess i'm stubborn that way - the best way to get me to do something is so say that i cant.
;-)

That pretty much sums it up for me as well!

whoot! high fivin' farm girls!!!!

I don't smell their laundry smells (I swear, you can smell downy and other stinky laundry products a block away),

ok so i'm not the only one!!??!? seriously! i thought i was nuts! i'm so relieved.... whew! yes yes its true! you CAN smell stinky laundry stuff a block away!!! i think they whole dryer sheet is a big conspiracy run from a big eastern syndicate..its all rubbish.

Me too! It seems strong smelling to me now...... Actually, my nose has become so overly sensitive that I can become sick from just walking into a cloud of someone else's "scent" now~be it laundry smells, perfume, deodorant or hairspray....all that perfumey smell is nauseating to me now.

 

[johnElarue]

Good question, I enjoyed reading all of your posts,

Here's mine, long winded and sorry story.

I was raised in the suburban shadow of NYC and grew up despising my hometown for some reason. Always wanted to live in the mountains or in the snow country. My parents did their best for us of course, but it provided some but not all my spirit needed.

Family vacations to state park cabins gave me a little taste of what I really wanted. Being stuck in the burbs was tough, but found outlets doing outdoor stuff even in the shadow of skyscrapers and garbage dumps. When I was old enough to be mobile ,got to see and work in more of the wilds and knew that was where I wanted to be permanently. Unfortunately youthfull inexperience led me out of some stunning places, that now in hindsight, seem heavenly, but at the time the economic reality was of course, right on the money.

What really got me going was meeting the right girl, straightened me right out even though she is not quite the outdoors type that I am. Never thought I'd be living like this 10 years ago, can't even imagine what will be going on 10 years from now.

Let's hope its a good decade

 

[Jamsoundsgood]

Well, my Mama taught me right. So I went out and married a man that wanted to do all this stuff too, and now we are living happily ever after.